Inside Out reImagined (TEASER)
by CreativityTheEmotion
Summary: (Teaser will be deleted in due time, see full story at id 13380643)


_CreativityTheEmotion Presents_

One of the most significant annoyances for anyone living in Riley's mind was the fact that clocks just... didn't work. You could try making a mechanism, but no matter what you did or how much Imagination you used, it would always run either fast or slow, and would be virtually useless. The emotions always had a rough idea of whether it was morning or evening - thanks to Riley's consistent sleep schedule, something not all fourteen-year-olds had - but beyond that, they were on their own when guessing the exact hour of the day.

Long-distance flights complicated the matter further. As the destination, barring the rare north-south flight, would always be several hours ahead or behind when compared to where the flight took off, Riley would need to adapt to an entirely different sleep schedule. Luckily, she got a head start by sleeping on the plane, but the economy class seat didn't make for the most comfortable bed, which showed as Riley had been tired to death throughout all of Thursday. Tonight, she needed the sleep, and she needed a lot of it.

However, Joy knew, from the bottom of her heart, that this particular sleep lasted just too long. Especially since she had told Dream Theatrical Studios to shut it, she only had herself, the mostly useless console and the blank, except for abstract, meaningless patterns, Consciousness Screen. In lieu of a pre-existing clock, Joy made noises reminiscent of one - tick, tick, tick - to show that she was bored out of her mind and wanted something, anything to happen.

She couldn't even recall any memories to brighten her night; she wasn't supposed to and the console prevented her from doing so. During the night, recalling memories and building dreams upon them was strictly the job for Dream Theatrical Studios - and now, during this crucial moment when nothing wrong could happen, they were out of a job. They wouldn't completely relinquish their position, and they would continue with the same nonsense the next day, but then, Joy wouldn't be serving Dream Duty anymore, and it would stop being her problem.

_If only I could solve my other problems by freezing the thought forms involved, that would be great!_ Joy thought to herself. _But no, I'm stuck here, in Headquarters, being the shepherd to a bunch of sheep that refuse to listen and... they do sheep things, all over the place... Yeah... sheep things... like the sheep that they are, listening to me..._

At first, Joy was oblivious to the first signs of trouble staying up. Fatigue in thought was certainly one, but she still felt like she was fully up; sleep, both for humans and their emotions, happened to be this little devil that took them in when they least expected. Another sign, one that Joy should have really noticed, was her toppling her chair by the console and getting down to a reclined position; she really thought that she was comfortable in that position and that she wouldn't be falling asleep anytime soon.

Luckily, just before Joy could fully fall asleep, something happened in the outside world, bringing her to full alertness again, although not without a very brief period of confusion. Riley's alarm clock, which she had set to 7:00 AM local time in order to be able to wake up for her first day of school, rang, and Joy's grand scheme was finally set in motion. After getting up, she first pushed "autopilot", a button on the console that was rarely used, but which would be useful in this special case. It had an energy meter associated with it, and as long as there was energy, the input from the emotion who pushed the button would be continuously received.

As the emotion in question was Joy, it immediately showed on the Consciousness Screen. She could only catch a glimpse of Riley shutting the alarm off and continuing to sing its song as she got ready for the day. The energy would only really last through breakfast; past that, Joy needed the cooperation from the other emotions. This, indeed, was where the second part of her plan came in: instruct each emotion on their exact role at school, so that Riley wouldn't embarrass herself and would make a good first impression on the local students.

This, however, was where her troubles really started. She knew she couldn't get in the noggins of the other emotions, and she knew that her instructions would always be subject to interpretation and plain disobedience. However, what she couldn't have anticipated was an emotion not being ready to start work in the morning at all. Yet, once she was by the door that led to Sadness's personal space, peering through the little teardrop-shaped window, she could see the emotion, still sound asleep.

_It's okay,_ Joy reminded herself, _Sadness doesn't exactly play a pivotal role in your plan anyway._ But then, a different way of thinking came to her; one filled with disdain: _Yet, she does play a role and cannot ruin it for you! She cannot. Non-negotiable. This plan has to go through smoothly, or not at all. And smoothly is preferable, thank you very much._

After all, she was Joy. In Riley's mind, first and foremost, she was an embodiment of perfection, the little voice telling her that "everything is okay, nothing has gone wrong yet". She couldn't allow herself to be stopped after hitting the very first roadblock, and she was going to make sure the others knew that.

Joy knocked on the door, louder than usual. Using her Imagination, she had, briefly for this moment, Imagined a gauntlet with hanging bells, which would make for an even louder sound. Even though she was further away from other dorms, this worked like a miracle, and soon enough, Anger, Disgust and Fear were all groaning and trying to get through their own routines before work.

Sadness, however, took her sweet time, which made Joy annoyed to no end. When she finally opened the dorm door in order to see who it was, she was greeted with the emotion, shining in the literal sense, but very much _not_ in the figurative sense, as she still had the bags under her eyes from her own lack of sleep, and had crossed her arms, tapping with her foot, due to being disappointed with Sadness.

"I assumed you'd have woken up earlier." Joy appealed.

_from the creator of _**_HITLER SPACE PROGRAM_**

"Could you not..." Sadness murmured, still trying to shake off her own Zs.

Despite this, Joy continued. "I assumed that I would be able to make Riley's first day at school _perfect_."

_and _**_В ГОЛОВЕ У АНДЕРСОН (ANDERSEN'S MIND)_**

"Look, Joy..." Sadness tried to explain herself, but it would seem Joy simply didn't listen.

"I didn't expect to run into an obstacle at the _very first minute_." she called out, getting progressively more and more disgruntled.

_comes a brand new story_

By this point, Sadness had already thought of a proper excuse, and told Joy, trying not to be nervous: "I had Dream Duty the night before, and needed some more sleep this night..."

"Well, _I_ had Dream Duty _this_ night, and look where I am: planning for both myself _and_ everyone else!" By this point, Joy was absolutely furious, gesturing with her arms all over the place, explaining her own position. "No! I am not going to take any more of your _insolence_!" she exclaimed, not even trying to hide her disdain for Sadness's actions anymore.

"_Joy!_" a male voice in the distance suddenly shouted in return; it would seem this was Anger, who heard Joy's outburst and was rather ticked off himself. "You're acting up more than me!"

"You're right." Joy suddenly calmed down, knowing that she couldn't get angry and let the pure essence of emotion control her, and especially not in front of her own BFF. Instead, she stood on her toes, extending her arms fully, slightly to her side, and concentrated on Imagining a pair of batons, which she could use as pointing devices to further complement her commands.

"'Tis just a minor hiccup. We still have every chance to make this day _perfect_." she continued, as she swirled around, letting the air flow around and through her, as she descended through the catwalks from the dorm doors to the seats by the console. It was like dancing, one of Joy's greater passions, and she was going to use that to deliver her commands calmly, rather than force them upon the other emotions.

"You see, I had plenty of time to craft a plan, and you'd better follow this plan _exactly_ how I want!" She tried to start out her next sentence confidently, but by the end, she still ended up shouting and clenching her fist; she just had to accept that she was still very much the enforcer of the bunch.

Meanwhile, Sadness had quietly walked over to the console herself, following Joy, and was ready to take commands. "I... I see. What should I do?" she timidly asked.

"Don't worry, I'm saving the best for last." Joy smiled back; a smile that was mostly sincere, but not entirely so. She then asked everyone: "That being said, do you know what sort of girl Riley is? Anyone?" Just pointing at one or two emotions wouldn't do, so she focused and her double batons turned into four, pointing at each of the emotions.

Disgust, Fear and Anger only murmured among each other; none of them realized what Joy meant, and in return, she groaned, realizing she would have to spell it out for them.

"Oh, come on, don't act stupid in front of me! Our mother literally said it yesterday!" she exclaimed, as she put the four batons in her hand together to merge them into one, while using the other hand to recall a memory of last night's conversation between Riley and her mother. The memory that popped up, thankfully, was an audiovisual one, the closest Joy could get to an accurate portrayal of past events.

"_You've stayed our happy girl!_" Riley's mother said, in a muffled voice, on the memory.

"Oh, _happy_ girl!" Fear said, smiling upon the realization.

"And you know what that means?" Joy asked.

"You're in charge?" Sadness, the emotion who understood Joy the best, was the first to answer.

"Exactly! And that means you're dancing to my beat. One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four..." Joy found herself using the remaining single baton like a conductor, making a sharp turn downwards with every "one", while doing an improvised dance. She then realized that this made her lose focus, and stopped in her tracks. "I mean, not exactly. Visual metaphor. Nevermind me. Fear!" she suddenly shouted, pointing to the purple emotion.

"Wait? What? Were you saying something? Am I in trouble?" Upon his name being called, Fear grew rather worried.

"You're not in trouble, but Riley could very well be. You got all the likely negative outcomes?" Joy asked, referring to a request she made a while ago, when the emotions first learned that Riley was moving.

"Of course! Three days ahead of schedule." Fear responded, satisfied with himself. "Just needs some minor fixes... how does one spell 'meteor'?" he asked.

"M-E..." Joy wanted to assist Fear, before realizing: "Wait, that's not a likely negative outcome at all!"

"Gotta be prepared!" Fear noted, nervously smiling, as he began looking through the list elsewhere to see if he was simply paranoid.

"You're right! Gotta be prepared." Joy agreed, before moving on to the next emotion in her plan: "Disgust, as always, will be in charge of our wardrobe and fashion. Know of anything that would make Riley stand out, but not in the 'look at me, I'm an American who worships freedom' way?"

At first, Disgust groaned when her name was called, but when she heard the instruction, she smiled, knowing exactly what to do. When Joy was finished, she answered: "I know just the perfect outfit that will do the entire job for you!"

"Of... attracting the most popular kids?" Joy, herself, wondered what job Disgust had in mind.

"You know it!" Disgust smiled, almost motioning to the console to do what she was told right away.

"Perfect." Joy smiled in return, before continuing to address the emotions. "Anger?" she asked.

"What?" Anger bit back, clearly not knowing any patience, and Joy knew that she was going to teach him some.

Her attention was drawn to the Train of Thought, a vehicle whose main purpose in Riley's mind was to deliver thoughts and their agents as quickly as possible. The moment Riley woke up to the alarm, the train departed, delivering anything that the Mind Workers manning it thought would be necessary for her first day of school, and as Joy noted, it was almost at its destination.

"Wait for it..." Joy told him.

Whatever it was that Joy was talking about, Anger had no idea, and he quietly groaned. He kept himself from fully lashing out at Joy, though, as he needed Riley's first day at school to succeed as much as she did, and that meant sticking to whatever she wanted to tell him.

"Wait for it..." Joy repeated.

Now, as the train moved along the rails that appeared and disappeared beneath it as necessary, its sound grew louder and louder, to the point where Anger heard it and realized what was going on. He kept silent, though, so as to not interrupt whatever diatribe Joy was going to deliver to his face - not that he needed any teaching, of course, but it was always fun to entertain her, and once again, quite possibly all of Riley's life from this point on hung on her success today.

Finally, the train was so close as to be visible from Headquarters to anyone, and tooted its horn as it pulled into the dedicated station.

"There!" Joy shouted out upon the first horn. "I love how these guys are punctual, down to the minute. We should strive to be like them, you know?"

"Yes, I do know. Right now, it looks like everyone's doing their own thing. Now, will you please get to your point?" Anger finally called out to Joy, having had enough with her morals.

"Of course! The daydream delivery of the day. School's been a mixed bag for us in the Great Lakes region too, so it's best to be prepared." Joy said, thinking back to her experience of Riley's school in the past; there were plenty of occasions when Riley would get plain bored.

"Naturally." Anger noted.

Now that Joy had mentioned everyone else and what they were doing, Sadness, who was by her side, awkwardly following her from a distance, finally spoke up again: "So, now you've talked about everyone... what do I do?" As Anger heard this, he decided to move on with the daydreams, placing them in their appropriate shelves.

"What do you do? Good question! Good question. Let me think..." Joy pondered, rotating the remaining baton in her hand in a circle, before stopping it as it was pointing to the back of Headquarters. "There! Follow me!" she shouted out, suddenly running towards the direction.

"Alright..." Sadness mumbled as she tiptoed, in her characteristic walk, towards Joy.

Joy, on the other hand, was focused on using her Imagination some more to give her baton laser pen-like abilities. She was able to shoot out a laser onto the ground, but it looked to be far too weak to burn into anything, so she focused on increasing the power, until the part of the Headquarters floor she had been pointing at became a thick, black burn mark.

Finally, as Sadness approached Joy's location, the latter began drawing. She drew a nice, neat, small (but not _too_ small) circle around Sadness, walking around when necessary to get the full circle. As she did, though, the path where she wanted to draw crossed Sadness's foot, and as the laser hit her, it burned her rather badly.

"Ow!" Sadness flinched, moving her foot away, so that she was inside the circle that Joy was drawing.

"Watch where you're standing!" Joy hissed, horrified that Sadness wouldn't look after herself.

"You know, you could bend down and draw..." Sadness suggested.

"And bow down to you?" Joy rudely laughed, before reminding Sadness: "_I'm in charge._ And you're not to interrupt that! You are to stand around and... no. This won't do." She shook her head, and thought what she could do about it.

In a split second, she moved over to the console, partly to see what everyone else was doing. It looked like the other emotions had followed Joy's command pretty well; after having breakfast in her pajamas, responding to Disgust's input, Riley returned to her room and picked an outfit for herself: her favorite yellow sweater and jeans, with red sneakers to match. More importantly, though, Joy needed Sadness's chair by the console, on the far right; without wasting any time, she picked it up and, in another flash, returned to the back of Headquarters, carrying it.

"Much better. You are to _sit_ around and watch from the sidelines. Don't leave the circle at any point!" She emphasized the correction, as she placed the chair in the charred circle and let Sadness sit on it. "Oh, and I took your comms tablet while you were sleeping; you can't touch that either. You cannot mess it up! First impressions. Very important. Riley's entire future could depend on it. You understand me?"

"I think I do..." Sadness muttered, glancing at the Headquarters shelves, where her comms tablet was placed right alongside Joy's; the sight was unmistakable, as the side keyboards of the two comms tablets were painted in blue and gold - the theme colors for Sadness and Joy respectively.

"You always understand me; even when you don't." Joy smiled back, showing minimal compassion, before she clapped and the baton/laser pen that she was holding, having served its purpose, disappeared. She then returned to Headquarters in a normal walking pace, summarizing the plan: "Well, that's everyone. Now get ready, for we are starting the school year like we should, and taking China by the storm!" With those last words, Joy hit the two big levers on the console, pushing them all the way to the end, as Riley was ready to receive her input once again.

As Joy thought about what she had just said, though, she couldn't help but shake her head and show a rather disgruntled grimace. "Did that sound stupid? It did? I'm sorry. I, of all the people, should be taking this seriously."

"It's a pretty good phrase, though." Disgust commented from Joy's right. "Taking China by the storm... I like it."

"Thanks." Joy shot back; having sat down in her own chair, she was really trying her best to focus on the Consciousness Screen and Riley's next action after getting dressed and putting on her schoolbag.

**_INSIDE OUT REIMAGINED_**  
2019年9月5日


End file.
